Here is my certificate of 4th degree black belt and international instructor status in Taekwon-do from the International Taekwon-do Federation under the founder of Taekwon-do, General Choi Hong Hi. Although I no longer teach Taekwon-do, I am still affiliated with the ITF as a lifetime member.

Certificate number A-4-359

Proof of General Choi Hong Hi as the founder can be found in Encyclopedia Britanica.

I am also dually certified as 4th degree and international instructor through the United States Taekwon-do Federation, the governing body of the ITF. The president of the USTF is Grandmaster C.E. Sereff.

Certificate number A-4-359

Here is certification from the International Instructor's Course held by General Choi Hong Hi, where I was privileged to train directly under him.

Proof of General Choi Hong Hi as the founder can be found in Encyclopedia Britanica.

Although I no longer teach Taekwon-do, I still maintain a lifetime affiliation with the ITF.

This is my first degree black belt certificate for American Combat Kempo under William Hock Hochheim.

Kempo is a form of Karate, and American Combat Kempo is a combination of Karate and Jiu-Jitsu.

Royce Gracie promotes me to blue belt in Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

You can see some of the other great people I have been fortunate enough to train with by going to the recent events page.

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This certificate officially recognizes us as an affiliate dojo under the United States Aikido Federation.

This is the Federation we continue to maintain affiliation with and train under.

Aikido of San Angelo is another name our school goes by (DBA Baker's Martial Arts Academy, DBA Baker's American Martial Arts Academy, DBA Aikido of San Angelo).

This certificate recognizes us as an affiliate dojo under the Midwest Aikido Federation.

Although we continue to train with affiliates in this organization as well, we no longer teach or promote belts under this affiliate.

Still, this is a fine organization and I proudly display this certificate.

Here is my rank certificate for Aikido as a first kyu under the United States Aikido Federation. My instructor is Mr. Josef Birdsong, of Aikido of Austin.

This is my first degree black belt in Modern Arnis under Grandmaster Ernesto Presas. GM Ernesto Presas is the cofounder of Modern Arnis, along with his brother, Grandmaster Remy Presas. I was one of a select group of students who were fortunate enough to have trained under both.

GM Ernesto Presas is the president of the Filipino Arnis Federation, as well as the International Philippine Martial Arts Federation. I am a member of both, and also the Modern Arnis Ju-Jitsu Karate Association under Grandmaster Remy Presas.

This is my first degree black belt certification for the Congress of America Knife Fighters Association, formed by the Founder, W. Hock Hochheim.

Hock Hochheim also hosted the national knife fighting championships, which I was privileged to attend for many years, along with people from almost all of the continental United States, as well as many other countries.

Here is a photo of myself with numerous other certificates not listed above. Some are diplomas, while others are simply training certificates for attending seminars and camps. Many organizations do not give certificates for attending seminars or camps, and a couple are missing, but you get the idea.

None of my lower rank certificates have been listed anywhere on this page. Neither has my rank certificate for my first kyu ranking in Tomiki style of Aikido.

Even after 28 years of training, I still grab every opportunity possible to train in any style or school which I might learn from.

Here is a photo of the only 3 national level competitors ever to come from San Angelo in any martial art.

From left to right is Jonathan Tomes, national Black Belt champion in sparring, Albert Garcia, national Black Belt Champion in sparring, and Diana Garcia, national Black Belt junior girls Grand Champion.

I personally trained all three from white belt to black belt over a 4 year period and coached them through every tournament competition on the way up.

Jonathan now attends Angelo State University and Albert continues to win in Taekwon-do tournaments as well as in many full contact kickboxing matches. Diana was an alternate for the USA team competing in the World Championships.

I wish them the very best of luck.

This is my membership certificate for the National Association of Professional Martial Artists (NAPMA).

I am also affiliated with the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce. (Not pictured)

This is a copy of the official reference manual of the International Philippine Martial Arts Federation.

You can find me on pages 89 and 100.

On July 3rd, 2004, I was inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Man of the Year for my contributions to the art of Karate.

My sincere thanks to all the wonderful and most loyal students who have spent many years "in the trenches" with me, and without whom I could never have achieved such a pretigious award.

See what I have been up to lately on the recent events page...

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